


Amalgamate

by Animegirl300



Category: Axis Powers Hetalia, Hetalia - Fandom, Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: America, AmericaxEngland - Freeform, Cardverse, England - Freeform, Hetalia, M/M, UKUS, USUK - Freeform, spades
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-18
Updated: 2013-11-17
Packaged: 2018-01-01 22:31:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1049327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Animegirl300/pseuds/Animegirl300
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cardtalia/Cardverse AU. Alfred F. Jones has fallen into another world, where the royals are named after playing cards and now he is the King of Spades! USUK - Rating may very well be mature in the future. Human names used.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Another World and a Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> I will admit that this original chapter was written a year ago, and so there may be some things I missed in previous edition. Please feel free to point them out, and I love reviews, so if you have any comments please leave them! :D Thank you!

Alfred F. Jones, American citizen, college football star, jazz player, wanna be cartoonist, and hero extraordinaire was falling and for the life of him had no idea as to why.

One moment he'd been running down a shortcut in the back-most side of campus and launching himself over a huge puddle, and in the next moment he found himself inexplicable falling. And this was not a normal fall either; not like the type you have when you trip over the first step on the way home, or even like the one when your jerk face of a twin brother pulls some stupid joke on you in your sleep and you fall out of bed. No; this was the type of fall you would have if you were stupid enough to launch yourself off the top of a skyscraper. The type you get when the only outcome could be your very painful and messy death.

As his initial yell of shock drew to a close, air pushed against Alfred's face and clothing, his blue eyes watered and shone in fear, his arms and legs moved around as he instinctively tried to stop himself from falling into the deep dark abyss up ahead. As if he were a bird and not a very flightless man.

'Oh God, I'm about to die' the blonde haired man thought. Or maybe he was already dead and this falling sensation was the feeling of him going straight to hell! But why? He was a good kid wasn't he? He was a great hero! Sure, he was sorta loud, he had a bad temper, and he never knew how to avoid a fight, and maybe he was just a bit obnoxious like Matthew said, but surely he wasn't bad enough to go right to hell without even a trial!

He blinked despite himself and realized that wait, if this was the way to hell then wouldn't there be fire and the screams of others? But there were no other people, no screams cutting into the very cold air. Actually the only thing in the blackness and the air surrounding him was the great ticking of a clock.

"W-what?"

And as suddenly as he heard it, ahead, or below him, a great clock bigger than any college classroom appeared in the darkness as suddenly as his falling had started, and with a great crash he fell into the clock, leaving cracks in it's surface.

"Oww!" His vision swam before him in pain as Alfred held is head and sat up. Around him was still the pitch black space, save for the clock underneath him and a strange swirling mist that began to float up.

"Where am I?" He muttered to himself, his voice feeling rather small for the hugeness of the space around him right before a great loud 'HA' scared him from behind.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Alfred turned, his eyes wide with panic as behind him a man appeared. The man was tall with silver hair and glinting red eyes that made his devil horns and black clothing somewhat validated.

"Looks like I, the Awesome Gilbert, was right of course. We have found him!"

Alfred blinked up at him and was on the verge of speech when another voice, much younger and with an unmistakably British accent, startled him from the front.

"This is him?"

Alfred turned once more to find himself face to face with another 'demon' maybe cat-looking guy, a little boy with huge eyebrows over his blue eyes and under his short blonde hair.

"Yes! The Awesome Gilbert is never wrong!"

"But what about yesterd-ah!"

"Shush it Pete!"

The man pulled at the boys ears, making the kid cry for his jerkiness as Alfred watched blinking in confusion.

Did he just fall from the sky into a black chunk of nothing, only to meet a couple of demon dudes who acted not only like it was nothing in itself, but actually like this nothing was completely expected? What?

Sure Alfred was used to some pretty weird things in his day. He was the guy who was taken up by aliens as a kid, although his brother hardly believed him. And he could also swear that those guys on television commercials were stealing his one-liners through telekinesis. But this brand of weirdness was not the type of weirdness that was .. well...not weird.

Grinning he tried to get their attention.

"Um, 'cuse me dudes, but uh, anybody wanna... tell me whats going on?"

The two guys stopped their squabbling and grinned; this was the moment they'd been waiting for.

"Hello honored guest" Gilbert said mockingly, "Congratulations! We, the awesome Jokers, are pleased to inform you that you have been chosen as the new King of Spades!"

"Ta-dah!" Peter added, throwing confetti into the air.

They grinned expectantly, as if waiting for some of response, and Alfred blinked again.

"Say... what?"

Gilbert now frowned, "What do you mean 'what'?"

"Yeah! We just told you some awesome-good news you, bloody hooligan!"

Alfred raised a brow and thought that he must be dreaming or something, a thought that had been crossing his mind more and more frequently today.

"I mean 'what' as in, what the heck are you going on about?"

Gilbert's frown deepened, and he cursed.

"Don't tell me we just pulled a complete idiot from the other world and made him king, did we?"

"He does look sorta goofy" Peter said thoughtfully.

"Yeah.. sorta weird donch'a think? My spell should'a picked someone as awesome as my magic is."

"Ha ha! Maybe it did!" Peter said earning a sharp rap on the head.

"Hey, you big bully! I was just saying!"

Alfred stood, now just a little annoyed.

"Hey! I'm not an idiot! Sure my math grade could be better... and my Literature grade isn't great either.. but I still do well in general and I know a lot of other stuff!"

The two demon guys looked amused for a moment before they burst out into laughter, and only after they settled down did Peter speak.

"I don't care if he'd an idiot anymore. He's funny!"

"Yeah, he'll be a riot for your grumpy brother!"

"That wasn't a joke" Alfred mumbled.

"Anyway" Gilbert said turning serious despite the smirk on his face, "We really don't have much time, so I'll explain uber quick. I am Gilbert, and this guy's Peter. We are the Jokers."

"At your service!" Peter said cheerfully.

"We are the keepers of the world we've just dragged you in. Although you're not from here, you have now become a staple for the world you will shortly be entering. You have no choice in the matter either. Because it's out job to keep it at peace as much as possible without the different countries screwing it up,"

"But they always do." Peter said.

"We have chosen you to be apart of it. Where we are standing in now is only the space between the world you know and the one you're going to."

"Yeah! This place is pretty empty, but don't worry, the real world that everyone else is in looks much better!"

"So basically you're here 'cuz we need you to bring the peace. Got it?"

Gilbert moved closer before Alfred could respond, taking out a golden spade-shaped watch on a thick golden chain.

He put it around Alfred's neck and stepped back grinning.

"And so, we now welcome you to this new world, King of Spades."

The finality of his voice startled Alfred, and he looked up just in time to feel Gilbert's hand on his head.

"Good luck Your Majesty."

And suddenly Alfred was pushed back into the clock-floor, and felt the very ground give way beneath him as Peter, the little jerk, moved forward and punched him right in the chest and sending him through the very floor and into a bright glow.

"See yuh later!" the boy called over him, floating in mid air.

"Not again!" Alfred yelled back, this time he was falling facing the sky, falling into a bright light. The glow lasted only a moment though before it disappeared and Alfred found himself looking into a ceiling that looked suspiciously like stone. Not that he had much time to think on the meaning of it, as a moment later there was a large crash as he landed painfully on his back into a stone block floor.

"... Ow..." he groaned feeling dizzy, before a great scream pierced the air from somewhere to his left.

Alfred looked to the noise and was startled and confused as he looked at what was a group of finely dressed people who looked like characters from an old Disney fairy-tale, their dresses and suits looking very suspiciously like those of British nobles.

But maybe even more startling was that there wasn't just this big-eyed group, but Alfred was actually sitting in the middle of a huge main hall of what was obviously a castle that was filled with these guys. In stunned silence they stared at Alfred, giving him the look someone would only give to a ferociousness animal instead of a normal kid like him. Besides the fact he'd just fallen from the ceiling, why were they staring at him like that when in fact they should probably be asking him if he was alright. Was it something on his cloth- what!

Alfred's eyes widened as he looked down and realized that he was no longer wearing his normal street clothes anymore, but under the bomber jacket that had curiously remained was a blue suit decorated in many black lacy spades like the ones you saw on playing cards. Even his sneakers had changed into a pair of long black riding boots. Not that his wardrobe was all too important in this situation anyway. The people around him were still frozen were they stood, and because their stares were making him rather uncomfortable and self conscious, he decided to break the ice.

"Um... hello there!"

The effect was like a cannon going off, as screams echoed around the stone walls, and a great shouting came from the crowd, and then someone down the great hall with another noticeably British accent commanded "Guards! Seize him!"

Solders seemed to appear out of nowhere, with big spears pointing at him from all sides in a circle of sharp weaponry.

Alfred felt his sweat increase, his hands get clammy and his eyes widened as he thought for perhaps the tenth time today, "Oh my God, I'm going to die."

He said a quick prayer mentally to God, apologizing for being such a jerk and a bother when another voice, Asian this time saved his life.

"Aiyah! Wait, aru! Hold on a second!"

Alfred turned around on the floor as the guards behind him gave way, allowing a short obviously Chinese man judging from the oriental-styled blue robes, to walk up to him.

Was it just Alfred, or was blue everyone's favorite color?

His hair was in a long pony tail, and he was frowning down at Alfred with brown eyes in a way that was more curious than it was scary.

"Yao! What is the meaning of this!"

It was the British voice again, Alfred noted, as he looked down the hall and noticed the man speaking was actually one sitting on one of two thrones set upon an elevated block. It was a man with yellow hair and green eyes and huge bushy eyebrows just like the Joker's, Peter was it? Obviously from the miniature crown on his head the man was royalty, and thus the ruler of whatever fantasy land he just jumped into.

"Please hold on your Highness," said Yao, capturing Alfred's attention against as he pointed down at him. "You there, where did you get that watch around your neck?"

There were gasps and Alfred looked down and found with a jolt the spade shaped watch, remembering how Gilbert forced it on him.

He held it up, earning more excited mumbled from the crowd of people around him, and even the soldiers in what he guessed was surprised lowered their weapons slightly. Thank God! Maybe that jerk Gilbert had saved him after all!

He gave a sheepish grin up at the man, still wary of another attack.

"Would you believe me if I said a couple of demons put it on me?"

The crowd went wild at this, talking even louder,

"He has the watch!"

"Did you see him fall from the sky?"

"Horned demons? The Jokers for sure!"

"It must be him!"

"The King!"

Yao smiled, although it was more of a tug on the sides of his mouth, and a rueful tug at that, before looking back at the man on the throne who was staring at Alfred now in astonishment.

"I thought as much. My Queen, it sees that this man has been chosen by the Jokers as our new King of Spades, aru."

"... Eh?" In the following silence it hit Alfred's mind that one, the guy sitting on the throne was actually a Queen thus meaning maybe he'd been mistaken and actually that guy was actually a girl, and two, for the second time today people were pointing at him and calling him some sorta King of garden tools.

But then without warning the Queen marched right up to Alfred, giving him such a shock he moved back despite the fact there were still a bunch of weapons behind him.

Whether or not this person was a chick or a dude, they were also the meanest looking person Alfred had ever met, with his eyebrows kneading together and his eyes glinting dangerously in aggression.

"I don't believe it!" They shouted, sounding very manly much to add to Alfred's confusion. But something in Alfred mind also sparked with annoyance at the exclamation. Was this jerk actually calling him a liar! If there was anybody who should be in denial, it should be him! The solders at this now raised their weapons again.

"H-hey! I know I probably look really bad right now, crashing in on your... whatever party you're having here, but what kind of guy would lie about something like that if he didn't want to look like, uber crazy and stuff!" He glanced at the group around him, "Although actually as upside down as their world is, you guys would probably find it normal." He muttered.

The man in front of him gave him a rather superior searching look that definitely rubbed Alfred the wrong way now, especially as he realized now that probably anybody would lie in a situation like this if it would save their life.

The guy made a noise of annoyance.

"I don't want your silly little excuses, boy. If you having that watch doesn't prove your claims, a whole lot of good your words will do." He looked to the crowd and spoke for them to hear. "For all we know, he can by an enemy spy come to act as imposer and make our kingdom vulnerable! I say that we have give him a test!"

There was a cheer from the crowd suddenly. A fickle bunch weren't they, Alfred thought in annoyance. Quite frankly Alfred didn't care either way if these people believed his story or not, all he wanted at the moment was his nice warm bed and a nice cold hundred bottles of beer to help him forget this crazy-ass dream.

Yao at least seemed to be the only one on his side at the moment.

"Sire," He said quietly to the grumpy faced man, "are you sure you want to? What if he really is the King and he is harmed, aru!"

"Hmph! Well if he is indeed harmed by my tests then I guess that would mean he wasn't meant to be King. After all, what Kingdom would want a weak King in the first place?"

The Queen gave Alfred a nasty smirk, and Alfred felt his face heat up in annoyance.

Weak was he? Ha! Alfred didn't care who this Royal douche-bag was. Alfred was a hero, and this guy was about to get a nice heroic lesson in the form of an ass-kicking! He sighed.

Whatever, he really didn't care. Okay, he did, but that only made it worse. So Alfred smiled, a bright, happy, I'm-trying-not-to-be-angry-even-if-I-am smile that he learned so well in the face of much more threatening bozos before this pansy, before he said with a cheeriness that could have fooled anybody,

"Well, it's a good think I am 'so weak'; no idiot would ever want an ugly Queen like you anyway."

There was an all-around gasp and the room went silent, even Yao looked perturbed, and in a surprising wave of guilt Alfred knew his touched a nerve as the formerly superior looking Queen's eyes widened in sudden hurt and his face turned a blotchy red color. But in the next minute said Queen shifted to rage, and Alfred stopped feeling guilty or even fearful immediately.

"Why you low-down cur! How dare you speak that way to me!"

Alfred was unimpressed. This guy reminded him of this girl he once knew. All fronting and mean one moment, but then when you dared to say something they went all crybaby on you. Just another jerk with a Napoleon complex.

"Hmph. A Queen who can give whatever flack they want but can't take a hit?"

"Oh ho! I can't take a hit can't I?"

Suddenly Alfred felt something strike across his face, and it was after a moment that Alfred realized that the Queen has just struck him with a light blue glove across the face. He had a nasty look on his face that was now only a foot away from his own.

"I, Arthur Kirkland, Queen of Spades, challenge you to a duel! Then we'll see who can't take a hit!"

"Aiyah! Sir, are you sure about this? There are other tests that we can put him through."

Arthur Kirkland looked towards Yao Wang, the Jack of Spades and his companion of many years with a frown. "Of course I am sure."

They and the crowd of people from the throne room were now filled out into the courtyard, a huge rectangle surrounded by the thick stone walls of the Castle of Spades. A rectangular line of stones in the middle highlighted the castle's main arena and the rest of the courtyard was decorated with the odd blue leafed tree or bush that grew either those blue and purple roses that Arthur liked so much or the dark blue or black spade fruit that populated the kingdom.

Around on the walls were shelves of weaponry that were kept up during the day for the Knights in training, or even simply the soldiers on their shifts. Arthur, now changed from his more glamorous clothing he wore for the court to that of his more simple but still noble styled dueling clothing, picked up his weapon, a regular sword that was meant to be used for such occasions as this compared to his more ceremonial ornament that usually hung at his side. Either weapon would do it's job of course in case of emergency, however he certainly didn't want to get his nice sword dirty.

Arthur looked to the other side of the courtyard at his opponent, and smirked. No, certainly not with such an unworthy opponent's blood. The man child was grinning at a couple of serving ladies as they offered him a cup of water and he began choosing a sword from the shelf on that side.

The strange man who'd fallen from the ceiling in the middle of the court, with no identification, and who was claimed to be the new King of Spades. He snorted.

Only a fool would believe that whoever this imposer was, no matter how official that Spades Watch made him look, could actually be their long-awaited King.

The Kingdom of Spades for the last hundred years had been a Kingless country. When the old king had died, when Arthur was just turning fifteen himself, he had been chosen to be the Queen. At the time he'd simply been the son of a noble gentleman, and had as much of a chance at being chosen as any other man.

But while attending the funeral, the old Queen whose round golden clock had run out with the old King's life began ticking as he went to pay his respects.

She'd smiled at him kindly, and with graying eyes looked over to her beloved court and exclaimed, 'It seems my work here is done. All hail your new Queen, the new Queen of Spades.' She'd taken then her last breath, leaving everything in confusion as the court found themselves with a brand new ruler without many even being aware the old one was gone! And he'd done all he could to prove himself then.

He'd managed to strengthen the Royal Navy, they country began producing more trade. There were no real wars in his time of rule, only short battles that he, the Queen of Spades won, and everything had been pleasant. Even when the Jack was found, on a day two years after the Queen's coronation when Yao and his ambassador father visited the kingdom and was chosen by the Sword of Spades that hung above the throne, the Kingdom was not put into any type of trouble. Everything since he'd begun his control over the Spade Kingdom had been smooth sailing.

Although they still hadn't had a King.

Many people had been under the impression that they wouldn't take a King at all. The Watch of Spades had been the antique used to determine who would take the throne, but it had disappeared when the old King died. Everyone knew that the Jokers, the mysterious beings who sometimes popped up to a certain citizen or Royal at a certain time, had taken the item.

But of course he, like many, had assumed it meant nothing special. That is, until the recent trouble began.

There was tension building in the other countries.

The Kingdom of Hearts and the Kingdom of Clubs had both begun acting strangely, more aggressively. The skirmishes between their lines and other countries were becoming more and more frequent. And even apparently to King Francis of Diamond country who corresponded regularly as a pseudo-ally of the Kingdom of Spades, the threat of war was growing larger. It wasn't upon them yet of course. But it was close.

Thus, this was no time for confusion to be growing in the middle of the Royal seat.

The Kingdom of Spades did not need to be stuck with a King at the moment. A new King would be unstable, unused to being in the seat of power.

A new king could not be trusted.

And so was the reason for his initial reaction to the boy who fell through the sky.

But now he had another reason to deny this man as his King.

That stupid git had actually had the nerve to call him ugly! He bristled at the very thought!

"Do not worry Yao," he spat in renewed anger "in the next few minutes this stupid charade will be over, mark my words."

Alfred looked up at the sound of a trumpet, and with a spike of worry looked towards his opponent. The Queen of Spade walked towards the center of the rectangle his sword in hand and expertly held ahead of him, and a look on his face that was much too confident and dangerous for Alfred's taste as he now moved to he center as well, holding his own sword out, trying to mimic the other's hold although he felt ridiculous and unprepared. After all, he'd never held a real sword before. The closest thing to this were those fake little wooden things that he and Matthew would put together when they were back at their grandparents farm down south and had an entire field to run around in. And even in GYM when they took fencing lessons with a couple of fake plastic pointers with the ends blunted so they wouldn't kill themselves was inadequate preparation.

How in the world did he manage to get himself into such situations, he thought as he felt the sweat on his brow. He knew the reason of course; his parents and then even his brother were always telling him that his bad habit of instigating was going to lead to his downfall.

But it wasn't like he tried to instigate. He didn't just walk up to thugs on the street and dare them to a fight. His problem was simply that he had a strong sense of justice, and a big ego, and his pride, and he simply was not devious enough for flight when it come down to things. And it was more that which actually started his many battles.

When he was younger he actually had the habit of sticking up for his weaker classmates, especially when his brother was very frequently that classmate.

When he got a bit older it was his friends who always seemed to have some sort of trouble. 'Hey man, I got this goon on mah back man, come on man, please, you gotta help me!'

After enough of those he actually ended up in Juvi.

'Look, you're a good kid Al, but you just don't know how to keep your cool, you know?'

Well, he did know. And he really had tried to do something about it when he was back home. It was actually the reason he joined football wasn't it? Sports gave him what his guidance counselors called 'a positive outlet'.

So now that he thought about it, he should be really surprised at all that he was here. Simply put, Alfred was just a fight waiting to happen, and it didn't help that the other guy was just as much a trouble maker as he was.

As he looked at that stupid smug face, Alfred felt himself become even more determined, even as he realized that he was very much at fault for what was about to happen. If he'd been more like Matthew, he would have been able to find some way to prove himself honest from the get-go. But he wasn't quite that bright.

"The winner will be determined by whoever either dies or become unarmed first aru." Yao said, sending a worried glance between the two men.

"Ready to call your mother to come and save you?" Alfred heard from the face he was very much starting to dislike at that moment, and he straightened his stance, the adrenaline he knew and loved from his great many football and boxercising seasons began pumping throughout his body. He grinned sunnily, almost cheerful.

"Ladies first."

With a yell of rage, the Queen started forward, as if in slow motion to Alfred.

"Get ready to die you lowborn welp!"

But even as the first thrust was launched at him, Alfred felt an almost instinctive pull on his body as he moved forward, pushing his weight down and then up into a curve and pounced right into the moving Queen, knocking into his legs, and sending him right over his body in a move his football coach would have been proud of.

Arthur felt himself flip right in the air, and landed with a thud right on his back in surprise, but still clutching his sword.

"The hell?"

Alfred moved back a few spaces, grinning as the surprised Royal jumped back up to his feet, now shaky from the impact to his legs.

"...why you..."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought we were doing battle." Alfred said mockingly.

Now he felt a wave of excitement!

Another thrust to the left, a swing over head, and sharp jab to the right, the sword play felt like dancing! Alfred blocked them well enough much to his surprise.

It was as if all those years of dodging punches and kicks in the alleyways of New York City were coming back to him, sharpening his reflexes, and telling him what to do.

He could also tell that his opponent was surprised too, Alfred thought with satisfaction as the Queen of Spades gritted his teeth in annoyance.

But Alfred's satisfaction was beginning to wane, as the Queen picked up the pace of his attacks. Damn he was fast, he thought as one stroke nearly broke through his defenses, sneaking it way towards his head on the left. The grumpy guy smirked at that one, and kept on thrusting at him.

The crowd around them watched in small silence, holding their breath or gasping as the tides of the small battle shifted and waved.

At some points Alfred was winning, taking a small risk to try offensive, and beating the spoiled Royalty back just a little. But most of the time he knew he was the one in defensive.

After all, this wasn't a battle he really wanted to end in bloodshed.

Quite frankly, none of his battles ever felt like that that.

"You know, you could give up if yuh wanted to" Alfred said through a pant, right after blocking a fierce upper cut from the Royal.

"Ha! Feeling the weight of your imminent defeat are we?"

"Umm.. No actually." Alfred said, swatting down the prideful tone in the Queens voice. "It's just this battle is sorta pointless anyway. I mean, we're not really fighting over nothing in the first place."

"You think that imposing as the King of my kingdom as if we're just a bunch of bloody fools is nothing?"

In a rage the man swung forward, and Alfred barely jumped out the way.

"Hey! I haven't done any imposing! It's your friend who said anything about that silly watch in the first place!"

But the Queen was relentless, he kept coming forward, moving quickly, jabbing at as many sides as he possibly could, and Alfred could only hold on enough to block them or jump out the way.

But he had to stop it soon, he could feel his chest heaving now, and his arm, not used to so much swinging as it was throwing things around was growing tired. There was one awful moment, when just as the Queen had sent a thrust his way that although his sword tool the hit in time, his arm gave a funny spasm and his defense nearly broke down. It was lucky that his opponent had been expecting a rock solid block that time though, cuz if he hadn't he could have actually done some real damage! And he realized it too, and the finely dressed Royal gave him a mocking smirk, and send a new volley of thrusts his way.

He had do to something! Stop the fight!

"Dude, this fight is going nowhere! I really don't see the point of it anymore."

Arthur paused for a moment as he digested the words before gritting his teeth once more in a low growl. "You don't see the point? You bloody idiot wanker!"

Wildly the Queen of Spades began launching his sword at him in large swings in every direction.

"You-don't-know-the-point-of-this-stupid-battle-ev en-after you-humiliated-me-right-in-front-of-the-bloody-cou rt?"

Alfred's eyes widened with every swing, easily rolling his sword along with it, deflecting them away. Was that what this was all about?

At another growl of rage, Alfred held his sword against a long strike overhead, their arms fighting to keep it's strength against the weight of the other's.

".. You're fighting with me... because I called you ugly?"

"YES, YOU IDIOT!"

Well that made sense, Alfred thought quietly as the mad royal brought on another harsh strike against him. That was so... childish of him! Alfred looked down at the man with something akin to amusement. For all the airs he put on as being superior this guy, Arthur was it, was childishly having a sword battle over a very silly insult. Even forgetting that Arthur has called him weak first, Alfred had more been preoccupied with proving that he wasn't an enemy spy, and that stupid attitude than anything else. But now, he could actually see that the person fighting him wasn't really just thinking himself better than him. If he'd really felt it, then he wouldn't admit to letting the insult bother him, and actually.. he probably wouldn't have even noticed it at first either.

Too bad Alfred was only just catching on to that.

But he guessed that's what happened when he actually began reading the atmosphere as people called it. But really, he should stop the fight, he thought, before someone gets hurt for real. He just needed to get that sword away from Arthur.

But how?

He needed something shocking.

Something so completely out the blue that it would shock the Queen enough and he could just grab it and...

Then Alfred F. Jones, self-sacrificer, peace-maker, and heroic ladies-man extraordinaire very carefully, deliberately, and okay fine, it was silly and random and embarrassing, moved forward while dodging the last stroke of Arthur's blade and kissed the Queen of Spades, none-too-gently either, on the lips.

The crowd gasped and giggled and awed in amazement, as their beloved monarch the Queen of Spades and the man who was supposed to be their new King, stood in a lip-lock in the middle of a battlefield, right after a huge and exciting argument. Oh this was the gossip of a lifetime! Even Yao, who was usually so cheerful and happy in such cutesy situations was frozen in slight shock. But only for a moment. Aiyah.

Arthur sputtered as he stepped back, as far as he could from the man who'd just kissed him. Was this some kind of joke? His face was flushed red in embarrassment, and he was aware of his heart beating very fast as the crowd of his court chattered around them.

"W-wh-at, w-what do you think you're doing! Y-you wanker! Dd-do you know what you just-"

Alfred looked cheerfully, as cool as a cucumber, grinning down at the Queen of Spades who was sputtering and tripping over himself in confusion, before he couldn't help it and burst out into loud obnoxious laughter.  
"Y-you git! Why are you laughing? Why are you-" He cut off as Alfred stopped and grinning at him, holding up not one anymore, but two objects in his hand.

"Heh. Got your sword. I won."

There was a cheering from the crowd of people all around, the court was in excited pandemonium and awe at this new development that many hadn't even realized.

Yao tried to hide a smile despite himself as he walked up to the two royals, Arthur staring blankly up at the taller man, and grabbed their arms, forcing their hands to touch, before addressing the ecstatic crowd.

"Aiyah, ladies and gentlemen of the court, I now introduce to you unofficially of course, the new King of Spades, aru!"

With the sudden cheering, Alfred looked in surprise at the Chinese man and the blushing Brit, but before he would even think of the fact he was supposed to be denying this exclamation, he grinned slightly as his vision swam before his eyes instead, and he held his forehead drowsily.  
"You know... I don't think I feel very well..." He told them thickly, as their expressions turned astonished.

And then he blacked out.


	2. All In a Name

Alfred had been having a nice dream.

It was almost like a memory from his childhood, the one where his father had taken him and Matthew camping. They had spent hours staring up into the brilliant night time sky, away from the distracting city and could see all of the heavens above them. Their father pointed out all the constellations, and had even brought a telescope so they could see all the beautiful craters in the moon. But then his dream started to change. The sky turned dark, and Alfred was floating, and instead of the bright glowing moon, the craters had shifted and turned into an elaborate clock glowing blue and white, and just as Alfred began to reach for it, he was suddenly blasted awake.

"Wake up you slimy, snively, low-down cur!"

Alfred opened his eyes quickly, only to close them again as he was blinded by light.

"What in the-"

Dazed and confused Alfred blindly tried to get up, but became aware of some incredible force shaking him back and forth, then grabbing something soft and holding it to his face trying to force him down.

"Your majesty, Please stop, you're going to suffocate him!" the voice Alfred recognized as Yao's yelled, then the heavy force was gone, and Alfred blinked panicky to see the little blonde Arthur being pulled away from him by Yao and another bigger guard as the pillow he was using to suffocate him fell to his lap.

"You're damned right I'll suffocate him!" Arthur's brows were shoved together and his face was red in anger, but as he was released he didn't make another move to attack the taller blonde in bed. Instead his crossed his arms, stomped over to the window and sat down glaring hatefully.

"Ahem." Yao began with an apologetic cough. "Good Morning your majesty!"

Oh yeah.

"Uh, Good morning!" He looked around the room distractedly; it was decorated in all shades of blue, large curtains behind stain windows as tall as he was, and on one wall a large grandfather clock ticked away. Nervously he glanced towards the Queen of Spades and back to Yao. He was still a bit dazed from the sudden shift in reality. He had thought everything about falling through the ground to another world had been a dream, although his senses told him otherwise.

"I don't believe we have introduced ourselves properly. This," he said with a bow towards the angry man at the window. "Is his Majesty Queen Arthur Kirkland of the Kingdom of Spades." Alfred had the blink at the long title. "and I am Yao Wang and I am the Jack of the Kingdom of Spades." another bow here was aimed at Alfred. "It is my humble wish to serve you during your reign as King."

There it was again, the King thing. He sighed, deciding not to pick that battle.

"Well, I still don't know about this whole King business, but the name is Alfred. Alfred F. Jones."

A curious look came upon Wang's face. "Alfred Jones you say?"

"Um, yeah! Is there a problem?"

"No. No. Not at all. Now" The curious look was gone and Yao turned to the guards who stood at attention at a clap. "I'm sure his majesty is hungry! Please go tell the kitchen to bring King Alfred his breakfast."

"Sir!"

Immediately two of the guards ran to fulfil his command as Yao looked over his shoulder at the door. "While they prepare your food I shall be back. The counsel will want to meet later. Your Majesties." With a final bow Yao disappeared behind the heavy oak door.

There was an awkward silence as the two men stared at each other.

"He really doesn't need to bow so much." Arthur muttered in the corner. He stood, making the American glance to the other two guards furtively, but he relaxed as Arthur merely walked around the room, admiring the curtains and clocks and paintings hanging on the wall.

Awkwardly Alfred tried to look at everything else, only nervously glancing at Arthur from the corner of his eye.

They had changed him while he'd slept, he noted. Instead of the blue robe, which was now draped over an armchair in front of the fireplace, he was wearing a soft simple white shirt, and tan pants. The spade shaped clock ticked over his chest. He held it up to inspect the amulet; it was golden with the pattern of a spade with vine like squiggles growing out of it. But as he looked at the hands he realized that the time on it was wrong. The grandfather clock said 10:00 in the morning, while his was moving at a faster pace rather trying to point to any one time. He turned it over in his hand looking for the winding. He couldn't find it.

"You can't change the time on it." Arthur declared from across the room. Alfred glanced at him in surprise but avoided looking right at him in fear of setting him off.

"Erm, really? Why not?"

The bushy browed Queen frowned further, "Because. That watch doesn't go along with time, but flows with the life of the King." He muttered something that sounded like 'Not that it matters to you.' which Alfred chose to ignore.

"So this watch is timing how long I have to live?"

The man sneered.

"If you really are the King; you should at least know that."

Inwardly Alfred groaned. He wasn't in the mood to argue. It was not like he actually believed that he was royalty now. He wasn't even sure if everything was real. Ignoring Arthur he pushed himself off the bed, stretching his sore muscles over his back and walked over to the window behind a heavy curtain.

"Woah…" He gasped at the sight before him.

Outside the window revealed that the land of Spades was not quite medieval as he'd assumed. Surrounding the castle separated by a vast garden and a golden gate, he could see buildings in the distance that more resembled the ones back at home in New York. However he didn't see any cars on the streets; there were horse drawn buggies instead. In the distance he could even make out the ocean. Several wooden ships were floating along on the horizon. For a moment he was so in awed by the city he even forgot that he and Arthur hated each other and he turned back at him grinning.  
"This place is so cool!"

The Brit even gave him a surprised look, but then puffed up a little and joined the taller blonde at the window.

"Well that is not quite the word I would pick, but indeed; The city is magnificent!"

He began rambling about how he had been the one to plan the revisions on the city, but was interrupted by Yao's return, followed by a maid pushing a cart laden with food; noodles and chicken and potatoes and all sorts of things.

"Awesome!" Alfred exclaimed sitting down to be served, making Arthur huff in disappointment, and remember that he was still angry.

Slowly a scowl appeared on his face even as he watched Yao presenting the meal to the man.

The new King of Spades?

He shuddered at the thought.

"Now then." Yao said, wiping his mouth contently.

After he's made sure Alfred was taken care of, he's joined the lad, never being one to miss out on a good meal. He and Alfred sat back in their chairs full and happy. Arthur looked up from his needle work. He'd refused an invitation for breakfast with the two, since he neither was hungry or wanted his company. Yao straightened in his chair and gave Alfred a serious look.

"Your Majesty, I have some questions for you. In consideration of all that has happened… yesterday there was too much excitement for us to talk, but if you could help me understand it would be appreciated."

Alfred nodded, sitting up straighter in his chair as he met the Jack's gaze.

"How much do you know about the Kingdom of Spades."

Oh.

"Well, I honestly don't actually. Yesterday I was just on my way to class, when everything just stopped and the next thing I know I was being flung into the floor of your castle."

At the reminder, Alfred winced and rubbed at the back of his head just as Arthur and Yao shot looks between each other.

"But, how is that possible?" Arthur's brows were furrowed in concentration. "I can get you being from another part of the country, or maybe even another country itself! But to not even be acquainted with our world? Just what are the Jokers playing at?"

"I really don't know" Alfred shrugged. "Maybe you can ask them."

"Ha! Believe me when I say we would love to do just that. As it stands" before Alfred even knew what was happening Arthur was at his side holding up the watch around Alfred's neck. He jumped from the contact and panicky thought of places to run, but instead the Queen merely studied it, then dropped it back. "It seems the Jokers have chosen you. But now where do we go from here?"

That was the question wasn't it?

After an hour of awkwardly sitting, standing, or awkwardly avoiding each other's gazes, the two other men had to leave.

"We are going to meet with the counsil. They are something of our administrators and it would be best to console them before they get too excited." he and Yao shared a look "After all, the appearance of a new King has made them worried about their standing in power. The gits. I swear if I could I would have them all fired!"

The counsil was a group of noblemen who reported directly to the Queen on matters concerning the country, such as war, taxes, international ties, and labor. To Arthur however, they were a group of fat idiots, too concerned with staying in power and leeching off the people.

"Anyway, do try to stay out of trouble. If you need anything the servants can be summoned with that bell." Arthur pointed to a bell nearby Alfred's bed that was held by a long golden wire into the ceiling. He nodded, and waved as the two other men left.

It took him only five minutes of listening to the steady ticking of clocks.

He glanced around the room, ignoring the painted faces of previous Kings on the walls, and pushed himself off the chair to head to the door. He looked down each corridor, and seeing the coast was clear he grinned, stepped quietly out, and pulled the door shut behind him.

Did they really think he would be content to stay in his room all day?

He wandered the halls cheerfully, admiring the beautiful weather outside. Maybe if he got done touring the Palace he would sneak outside to enjoy it. Every once in awhile he would hear the voices of various people; the servants as they diligently went about their work, and there was one big door behind which he was convinced Arthur and the counsil were meeting. He quietly tip toed around that room. It sounded as if those noblemen would not welcome the face of their new 'ruler'. But just as he'd past that door, another smaller, more discrete one opened, and he was met face to face with one of the servants. She was a pretty looking girl, with tanned skin and red ribbons tying her black hair into ponytails on each side of her face. She was in fact so surprised by the appearance of Alfred, she nearly dropped the basket of sheet's she was holding.

He reacted quickly, grabbing the basket before it hit the ground and putting a finger to his lips before she had the chance to exclaim what he knew she was about to say. 'Oh your Majesty!' She took the hint, as a particularly loud voice came from behind the big door.

"Do you want to escape down here?" she whispered, her eyes glinting cheerfully.

He grinned, sweeping into the tiny door space thankfully.

"Thank you!" He whispered with a grin.

She giggled and waved goodbye before closing the door behind him.

He found himself inside a small stone passage with torches leading down a flight of steps.

How exciting!

He took each step quietly, listening for any other footsteps along the hallway. There were some distant sounds, he was sure the other servants were making as they walked to and from the many palace rooms. As he walked along he realized that there must be a secret door to every since room in the castle. There was a peephole in the one where Arthur was meeting with the counsil.

"You are not understanding what I am telling you!"

"You mean to say you are willing to have an ignorant boy with no breeding-"

Alfred stopped listening after that with a shrug. On to more important things than the bickering of a bunch of old men. There was a door to the Library, he noted for future reference. He was slightly curious about learning about this new world. Several of the doors on this floor went to rooms reserved for nobles. There was one moment when Alfred peeked into a room, and hastily had to turn his gaze and hurriedly had to walk away. There had been a woman inside that one in the middle of changing. As pretty as she was, he certainly was not a pervert, and he tried his best to push the image out of his mind as finally he found the ground levelling out into what must have been the bottom of the castle. He peeked into one door, and finding it was the kitchen, happily made his way in.

There was a plump woman rolling a mound of dough at a wooden table who looked up in surprise.

"Your Majesty! What are you-"

He gave her a sheepish grin.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you! It's just the council is meeting up stairs and-"

A look of understanding dawned on the woman's face and she chuckled, fondly gazing at the young man. He reminded her so much of her own son, and knowing about the council as most servants here did, she understood perfectly the need to get away from such aggravating men. Even when Arthur was first brought in to Queenship he'd taken to hiding from the group as well.

"Oh, don't you worry, sir. Those men can't harm ye here. Come; I've just gotten a new batch of bread out the oven! I do declare I'll fatten you up just yet, your Majesty."

It was thus that after much persuasion that Alfred was quite full from his earlier breakfast and couldn't possibly impose on her more, he quietly took the back door to the kitchen and found himself outside with a bundle of food to take along with him. He smiled up at the welcoming sky, and whistled down the pathways of the garden. It was beautiful garden as well; all types of flowers, most of them blue, grew in little planned patches of ground among the handsome trees that bore leaves shaped like spades. At one point he saw the gardener, who looked up in surprise, but as Alfred waved the man took off his hat with a friendly salute before leaning over his much beloved work.

It warmed Alfreds heart as he thought of the people he'd seen for far. They seemed so friendly and welcoming despite the weirdness of his appearance yesterday. He headed towards the nearest gate, where a sentry stood, axes in hand. They bowed as he strode up, and although they looked at each other in confusion as he explained he wanted to explore, they let him through, offering to take him for a tour of the city if he wanted. He calmly refused it, although one of the sentry still decided he would keep an eye on him from behind. He shrugged at that but kept walking.

The city was so alive.

It was different from New York where is was a bunch of traffic and grumpy people walking hurriedly along. Here the air was fresh and clean, the carriages clomped past in a less threatening way, and the people walking around on foot seemed content to walk slowly, greeting familiar faces as they past. He was thankful that he'd left the blue cloak at home. Nobody paid him any real mind as he strode through the city, although he might have gotten a few glances from the ladies as he walked. At one particular group of girls he smiled with a wink, making them blush and giggle while they waved.

He was quite the ladies man here, he thought a bit proudly.

Whereas back home most women seemed too busy to waste time flirting with handsome strangers, the women here were rather friendly and seemed to want his attention. There were also a few men who he nodded to friendly, but the majority of people to pay him much attention were the girls. Good looking girls. Maybe it would be so bad to live here, he thought impishly.

It did not take him long to find out that as beautiful as the capital was, there were still the same problems as the ones at home. He'd made his way down close to the port because he'd really wanted to see one of those ships up close. But as he got down there he recognised the signs of poverty. The streets were dirtier here; the buildings that were in good shape were less fancy than close to the palace, and the ones that weren't in good shape were very obviously in bad shaped. Broken windows and signs, a couple of them were close to falling down.

He pitied the the people he past by; some of them were working hard, hauling objects around on the street, pushing large packages onto carts. Some of the poorest sights however were the people standing around, leaning against buildings, or curled up on stoops and sitting in alleys. It was heartbreaking especially when he saw some of the faces were so young. At one point he noticed a little family standing on street; the mother, her brown hair a tangled mess over her tired eyes, was curled up in a blanket, holding a little girl in her arms while her son held out a hat, asking if anybody had some spare change. He glanced around down the street, dodging behind a drawn carriage as he walked up to them.

The little boy and his family at first looked scared as he approached. But then Alfred smiled and crotched at eye level in front of the lad, waving at the little girl in the woman's arms. She gave him a very weary smile, and the girl giggled, hiding her face in her mother's chest.

"Well, hello there young sir!" The boy stared at him, wide eyed. "What's your name?"

"Ah! Um… I-it's Edmund, sir!"

"Edmund huh? That's a nice name. You wouldn't happen to know what it means do you?"

"N-no sir!"

Alfred glanced at the boy's mother with a smile.

"It means 'rich protector'. I only know that cuz I have a cousin named Edmund. He's not very rich either, but you know names have a way of defining your fate sometimes." he grabbed the boy's hand, giving him the bundle of bread happily. "So thanks for protecting your mom."

The boy blushed and was so excited he didn't even look in the bundle.

"Thank you sir!"

He shared a smile with the mother and the little girl stuck up her head, smiling as she hugged around her mother's neck.

"My name is Janie."

"Oh really?" Alfred said with a false look of surprise. "That's such a pretty name!"

The girl giggled and hid her face again, and as he straightened up the sentry who'd been tailing him appeared at his side looking a bit nervous.

"I apologize my lord, but it is getting a bit late…"

He glanced at the sky and Alfred nodded noting that the sky was already beginning to turn a bright shade of orange. Sadly he gave the family one last smile, and waved goodbye. The girl waved enthusiastically, and blushing the boy yelled after him, making him pause.

"I'll never forget you, sir."

"Yeah,"

With a final wave he followed the sentry quietly matching his step as they headed down the streets. "me neither."

It took about ten minutes before the guard seemed to gather enough courage to blurt something out.

"I apologize sir, but that was rather dangerous. You never know when another person might come up behind you when you aren't looking."

Although a bit surprised, Alfred frowned before he nodded.

He knew it wasn't necessarily safe. He'd been born and bred in New York where there were poor, desperate, and sometimes dangerous people who would like nothing better to do than jack him for his things. And a part of him knew that he wasn't making a huge difference in the life of those three people. A few pieces of bread could never change their entire outcome.

But at the same time there was a certain warmth in his chest. Even if the situation could have gotten dangerous, the chance that he to show even a bit of human decency made him happy. A show of kindness in the midst of such a terrible situation still held weight. But maybe he was being self-gratifying by his act of charity. Maybe a part of him only did it because he knew he'd feel good about looking after another person. That thought made him feel cold even in the warm night air.

He glanced up at the sentry, and realized the man was eying him nervously, ready for an exclamation treason against the King.

"No. You're right. I guess I was being a bit stupid..."

The man nearly dropped his weapon.

"Ah- but that's not what I meant sire! I mean… it was very nice what you did. I just meant that you should be careful.. after all… but," the man met his gaze with a fiercely determined look. "I bet that boy will always think of you as a hero, yeah, because you were kind and gave him some food, but because you're the only person who ever told him what his name means."

The guard looked ahead, remembering who he was talking to in such a passionate way, but he continued as the sky began to grow dark above them.

"I bet it means the world to him… knowing he's doing something meaningful for his family." he mumbled.

And Alfred felt the warmth come back to him as they reached the gate to the castle again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG I ACTUALLY UPDATED THISS YEEEAAAHHHHH!
> 
> I have been having such a STRUGGLE trying to write this second chapter. Before I even got busy I was having trouble planning things, out, but here it is! D
> 
> Sorry again...
> 
> Anyway: Found out that Alfred's name means "Name of a King, and Counseled by Elves." Both meanings could be ironic on some level in this fic. Since he WILL need to be counseled by a group of otherworldly people.
> 
> Also find it cute that Arthur is also a King name, although it also means strong as a bear... herm... CX
> 
> By the way, Janie means noble, and blessed by god. I put that in there and Alfred's mention of names describing the fate of people as a sort of sliver of hope that the family will one day be alright despite the circumstance.
> 
> Anyway: thanks for reading although I haven't updated it for so long T^T
> 
> I shall update it more frequently.


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